Lady In Red
by Kara
Summary: Tag to "Art Attack"--Logan reflects on the evening, and how it's changed him


Lady in Red  
By Kara (AnyaLindir@aol.com)  
  
Spoilers: Up to "Art Attack"  
Disclaimer: Dark Angel, its characters and storyline, in no way belong to me, but if anyone's offering... g The song title, "Lady In Red," is property of Chris deBurgh  
A/N: This has probably already been done, and it's pure sap, but I couldn't help it... Takes place right before Logan smacks his leg against the table, just after Max leaves.  
  
I'll admit that I was worried when I first asked Max to go with me to my cousin's wedding yesterday. Even Bling had his doubts about my sanity. Max and I never mix business with pleasure-it wasn't our way. But this was Max, and in some petty ways, I wanted to show off this vibrant, beautiful woman to my family, if only to prove to them that the Black Sheep Cale isn't the loser that they think I am.  
  
I don't kid myself. Max isn't as polished as the uptight society beauties and inbred bluebloods that I grew up with. She isn't Daphne or Valerie, or even Aunt Margot. She cleans up well enough, but she has to be the moodiest, most proud, cynical woman in Seattle. But underneath that hard, genetically altered surface, I still see this lonely girl sometimes... It's foolish of me, to think that the girl inside needs any sort of protection, but something draws me to Max. It's the way she swings between feral wildcat to someone who corrects me on Egyptian mythology. The vulnerable child trapped inside the hardened soldier. Something about the dichotomies of Max Guevara makes me want to change the world for her, if only because it would make her happy.  
  
When I saw her walking out of the bathroom at Jam Pony today, every fear I had disappeared. In that dingy little room, Max shone like a red star. In that dress, with that smile on her face, I saw the woman who would put my social climbing Aunt Margot to shame, a woman who could've ruled countries with the wave of one elegant hand, and charmed her way into the heart of anyone. With that saucy little smile on her lips, I knew that I didn't need to worry about her affects on my Uncle Jonas. She would either kiss his capitalizing white ass, or feed his diseased liver to him, piece by piece.  
  
She never fails to surprise me. In the car tonight, she saw behind my façade about not caring about what my petty family thinks. One minute, she's arguing about the foolishness of marriage, and how the ceremony should be held in secret, so that no one's rep is blown when the marriage goes bust. The next, she's sniffling into a tissue at Bennett and Maryanne's wedding, with this almost wistful look on her face. If anything, Max Guevara is never the same. She may shock me sometimes, but it can definitely be for the better.  
  
Sometimes I think I underestimate her, in the same way that she might underestimate me. She plays up the same gruff face that I do when we talk about family and where we came from, but when I introduced her to my backstabbing uncle and aunt tonight as a Greenwich Guevera, this almost wounded look came over her face. I've never seen such a range of emotions on her face before. When I first met Max, I swore she was frostier than the old Ice Queen in the X-men comics that my mother used to buy me. But even Dark Angels can have a softer side.  
  
Throughout tonight, it was one revelation after another. Max had no fear standing up to my uncle, shooting snide comments right back at his flapping jaw. She came to the rescue in my moment of panic at the wedding toast, saving my ass from the proverbial family frying pan. And as she prompted me word by word, the speech I'd thought so corny in the car seemed oddly apropos for the relationship I have with her. Brought together by chance, embarking on the greatest journey of their lives...partners in everything.  
  
It's hard to classify how I feel about her. There's that protection I feel, for the lonely girl that was robbed of every chance at childhood that she ever had. Genetically-engineered or not, Max deserves so much better than the shaft she's gotten from the day she was born. But she's a survivor. She knows how to fight for her own way, and what she wants, even if it means knocking the bridal bouquet out of my ex-fiancée's hand, or complaining about not getting her cake after saving one of the few remaining American treasures. The most ironic thing is that, somewhere along the line, I think she started looking out for me too. When she handed me my mother's locket, just moments ago, there was a look on her face that reminded me of my mother. It was a look that I've never seen before on Max's face-softened, almost delicate. As if it was the face of the woman Max might have become, had she a normal childhood and a normal life. At that moment...something changed. I want to protect her from Lydecker, and every other person who would dare to hunt her, but a part of me also wants to hold her close, to have her be more than just a business partner, to embark on that journey with her, to pledge my love...  
  
This whole night has been an incredible mish-mash of emotions. Max in her stolen rose-colored dress, lighting up my Uncle's cold house. The look of jealousy that I never thought I'd see when she saw Daphne. Even the fact that I admitted to Max that my own pride had failed me when it came to why my ex-fiancée dumped me, seconds after I asked her to marry me. Even though my conscience is still reeling over the fact that she lifted that dress, I can't help but think that it was worth it. Just that image of Max in red...that in itself is worth even the world before the Pulse.  
  
If only I had the courage that Bennett has, to pledge his eternal love for a woman in front of everyone, to walk down an aisle that he burns behind him. I thought marriage was forever with Valerie. Maybe I was too young then for what I feel now.  
  
If only I could walk down that aisle, if only I could give Max everything she deserves...  
  
If only I could walk...  
  
I hardly know  
This beauty by my side.  
I'll never forget  
The way you look tonight.  



End file.
